Washing machine



Fb. 33,. E934, L..K @KNAW 359%@535 WASHING MACHINE Filed Jan. so, 195o APatented Felon i3, i934 naait y lng WASG mit Leland G. Knapp, .ilhicago9lill., assigner to Montgomery Ward & Co., llncorporated, Chilcago,lill., a corporation oli ois Application January 30, 11930. Serial No.4124,46@ d il). (Cl. g-lill) The present invention relates to animprovement in clothes washing machines provided with deep washingchambers, and it particularly relates to an improvement in the paddlesor agitators for such machines and in the methods of circulating thecleansingliquids therein. Much diiiiculty has been experienced inclothes washing machines in obtainingaI satisfactory agitation of theliquid in these deep washing chambers, which will result in e'icientcleansing of the clothes and other articles which may be placed therein.The usual agitating mechanisms employed either did not agitate thecleansing liquid suiciently to cause a satisfactory sudsformation orthey agitated it in such a manner that the clothes became entangled andwere insufficiently washed. In addition it was necessary to consumeexcessive quantities of' power in order to obtain a satisfactory washingor cleansing of the clothes.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improveddeep-tub clothes washing machine structure which will do a moresatisfactory job than hitherto possible with a reasonable currentconsumption.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedclothes washing machine agitator or paddle which will moresatisfactorily agitate the body of liquid and which will also produce amovement of cleansing liquid through the washing chamber in a moredesirable manner.

A further object of the present invention is to proportion and positionan agitator within the washing chamber oi' a clothes washing machine insuch a manner that a more satisfactory combination is produced.

Other objects will appear during the course of the followingspecication.

In one embodiment of the present invention a clothes washing machine isprovided with a vertical tank forming a washing chamber. A paddle oragitator is placed within the tank or tub in such a manner that maximumagitation will be produced at a level which is about equally dis- 45tant from the top and bottom of the washing chamber of the tub, saywithin the middle third of the washing chamber. The apparatus and theagitator are also so designed and proportioned that water will be suckeddown through the middle portion of the tank until it reaches the bottom,whereupon it is thrown outwardly toward the edge of the tub, producingmore or less of a rolling action. It has been found very satisfactory tomove the liquid. body in such a way that the water will go downwardly inthe center of the tub, outwardly at the bottom ot the tub, upwardly inthe outside portions of the tub and in- Wardly at the top of the tub.

On the accompanying drawing is shown one embodiment of the invention, towhich it is by W no means restricted. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a side-sectional View of a clothes washing machineupon the line l-l of Fig. 2; Y

Fig. 2 represents a top view of the machine; @5 and Fig. 3 represents asectional View upon the line 3 3 of Fig. l.

The tank or tub ll in the present embodiment is cylindrical, but ifdesired may be made 7@ of other shapes. The tub 11 is provided `with adraining bottom 12, the central portion of which is removed, asindicated at 13, so as to permit the passage of suitable drivingmechanism for the agitator or paddle 14.. The tank wr 1l is usuallyfilled with liquid up to the level of the depression 8 between thedouble beading 9, and this space forms the washing chamber. The agitatoror 'paddle 14 is provided y'with a series of symmetrically positionedvertical vanes or ns 15. In the present embodiment of the invention,these vanes 15 are three in number and are proportioned so that each fmor vane will have a maximum width 16 which is approximately one-hall' tothree quarters of the tub radius. The maximum area or maximum extension16 of the vertical vanes 15 is preferably positioned about equallydistant from the top and bottom of the washing chamber, or at leastonequarter. of the total depth of the washing chamber from either thetop or bottom thereof. In the embodiment of the invention shown, thisplace of maximum width is also positioned closely adjacent the top ofthe agitator. The area or extension of the vanes 15 decreases ratherrapidly as they approach the bottom 12 oi. the tank 11, and in thepresent embodiment of the invention, the vane area is caused to ceaseand terminate at a position 17 adjacent to the bottom of the tank.

By moving the bulge or maximum extension in the vanes to a positionwithin the washing chamber so that it stands about half the heightthereof, a maximum agitation is produced at such level, and this enablesthe satisfactory utiliza.- tion of much deeper washing machine tubs thanhitherto employed. In addition, it produces a much more satisfactorywashing agitation of the mixture of cleansing .liquid and clothes thanwould be obtained by placing the agitator or 110 paddle at the extremebottom. The vanes are attached to a tapered conical supporting standardor center 18 which gradually widens as it approaches the bottom of thetank. To the lower part of this supporting standard or center isattached an outwardly-Haring sharply-inclined skirt 19, which is adaptedto iit lover the conical rise in the central portion of the tank. Theouter under edge of this skirt is provided with a bead 20. Thiscombination of elements prevents the clothes from working upwardlyunderneath the agitator. V

The top of the driving shaft is provided with a spline head 31 (see alsoFig. 3) which spline head 31 is adapted to fit into and cooperate with asimilarly shaped portion 32 on the interior side of the conical center18. The agitator 14 is held onto the shaft 30 by a draw bolt 33, whichscrews into a tapped hole in the top of the agitator shaft. The bearing34 is rigidly attached to the bottom 12 of the tank 11. The' agitator orpaddle 14 may be made or cast of aluminum, or it may be constructed ofany other metallic or non-metallic material suitable for washing machinepaddles which will not readily deteriorate or corrode when subjected tothe action of warm and hot detergent liquid mixtures. The present paddleproduces a violent action without an excessive use of power and with aminimum tangling of clothes.

The throw of the paddle in the present embodiment of the invention ispreferably about 180. By constructing the paddle with three vanes andoperating it in this manner it is made vcertain that no dead spaces areleft in the liquid body in the tub, since all portions of the body willbe thoroughly agitated.

It is obvious that many variations may be made in the present inventionwithout substantially avoiding the scope thereof. It is intended toinclude all such variations .within the purview of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An agitator for a clothes washing machine, provided with a series ofvertical vanes, the area of which reaches a maximum at a distancesubstantially above the bottom of the agitator, the edges of said vanesfirst being straight and sloping outwardly and downwardly and then beingcurved, and extending downwardly and outwardly to reach a maximum radialextension, then inwardly and downwardly to reach a minimum radialextension and nally outwardly and downwardly to reach another maximumradial extension.

2. An agitator for clothes washing machines, comprising acentrally-disposed vertical supporting standard having at its base anoutwardlyiiaring sharply-inclinedlskirt of relatively greater diameterthan that of the standard, and a series of vertical vanes extendingradially from said standard and including an upper maximum area and alower minimum area, the upper maximum area being in the plane of the topof the supporting standard and of greater diameter than the diameter ofthe skirt, and the lower minimum area being of less diameter than thatof the maximum area and substantially coextensive with that of theskirt.

3. An agitator for clothes washing machines, comprising acentrally-disposed vertical supporting standard having at its base anoutwardlyflaring sharply-inclined skirt of relatively greater diameterthan that of the standard, and a series of vertical vanes extendingradially from said standard and including an upper maximum area and alower minimum area, the upper maximum area being in the plane of the topof the supporting standard'and of greater diameter than the diameter ofthe skirt to project the outer edge of the upper maximum area beyond theedge of the skirt, and the lower minimum area being of less diameterthan that of the maximum area and substantially coextensive with that ofthe skirt, the outer edges of the upper maximum and lower minimum areasmerging with each other and defining a continuous compound curve.

4. An agitator for clothes washing machines, comprising acentrally-disposed vertical supporting standard having at its base anoutwardly-iiaring sharply-inclined skirt of relatively greater diameterthan that of the standard, and a series of vertical vanes extendingradially from said standard and including an upper maximum area and alower minimum area, the upper maximum area being in the plane of the topof the supporting standard and of greater diameter than the diameter ofthe skirt, and the lower um area being of less diameter than that of themaximum area and substantially co-extensive with that of the skirt, theupper maximum area and the lower minimum area forming a continuous webfrom said skirt to a point approximately' coincident with the top ofsaid standard, the outer edges of the upper maximum and the lowerVminimum areas merging with each other and defining a continuous compoundcurve.

